


If we cant go outside, then lets be together

by ruthiewaltina



Category: Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:02:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29782740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruthiewaltina/pseuds/ruthiewaltina
Summary: As the finally of season 1 ended, we were all going into lock down for the first time. This story is going to be what if Zoey’s world also had to quarantine with us as well.
Relationships: Zoey Clarke/Max Richman
Comments: 10
Kudos: 20





	1. Early March

**Author's Note:**

> This sets 3-4 weeks after Mitches passing. And will see how far in the future we go to.

Zoey looked up at her ceiling, as the brisk mid march sun came streaming through her window. Every since Mitch’s passing, she had woken up with this cloud of grief and sadness around her. Weighing down her chest, and furthering her back into her bed. But for some reason today, the world felt a little bit lighter to her.

With one foul swipe, she kicked off the covers from her bed and sat up. Zoey huffed to stand up, and walked to get her phone. They were a couple of text from her mom checking in on her. Simon wondering if she was okay, because she had yet to respond to any of his text are calls. A notice form David that the baby still had not been born, even though the kid still had two more weeks to go. And Max, he was always trying to check in on her, see how she was doing. Some times she would respond, but she didn’t want him coming over to check in on her. She just wanted to sit in a puddle of her own grief, by herself. And also, Mo had that covered anyways.

But today was not like any other days, today felt lighter. Today felt different, one of those good days. So Zoey made the decision to text Max to see if he wanted to get coffee that morning. She thought she could take shot in the dark, hopefully it didn’t mean anything to Max, Zoey justes wanted to go outside on this beautiful day. But lets be honest, Zoey knew that Max would say yes. And with in the next three minutes Max had responded:

From Max: sure hows 9?

To Max: okay

After getting the confirmation from Max, Zoey walked to her closet. She was shuffling through her clothes, when a thought dawned on her. She had yet gone outside since her father’s passing, and she had know idea what to wear. What do people wear to go get coffee. After staring at the clothes in her closet, she made the decision to march over to Mo’s door and knocked profusely.

Mo opened the door with a shocked yet exhausted face, “Well hello darling, look who got up.”

“Ya, Hey Mo. I meeting Max at the Golden-Gate Grind later today, and I don’t know what to where,” Zoey rambled out.

Mo’s face immediately lit up with joy, “Child, why didn’t you just say so. You know I’d love to help fix this sad style of yours.” Mo push passed Zoey into her apartment. He looked at all of Zoey’s sweaters and cardigans and just sighed. “Okay, lets just burn everything and start from fresh.”

“No, no, no. I just need help, I don’t know what to where. I decided to meet Max for coffee before I forgot I don’t know how to dress myself.”

Mo leaned on the wall, and gave Zoey a smirk that explained everything that was going through his head. “Eh eh, what’s that face for?” Zoey asked, knowing she didn’t want to hear the answer.

“You know exactly what this face is for, Zoloft,” Mo crossed his arms, “This is the first time you leave your house in weeks, and you decided to get coffee with a guy who pushed you against a wall.”

Zoey’s face went bright red, “So?”

“So, you know exactly what,” Mo tried to explain. But Zoey still looked lost in the face. “Do I need to remind you that this boy burns love for you. And that you also have another fella who like to claim your heart,” he said in a dramatic way.

“I am very aware of all of that, thank you for recapping. But me and Max are just going to get a friendly cup of coffee, on the first nice day of march,” Zoey retaliated.

Mo sighed, “Okay fine, just a cup of coffee. So I assume you want some thing casual?” Zoey nodded, “Okay here.” Mo picked a pair a jeans and one of Zoey’s bright floral sweaters.

Zoey was stunned, “I’ve been looking at that closet for well over an hour now, and you just casual pick out an outfit. How does your brain work like that.”

“Zodilocks, it wasn’t that hard,” Mor started to walk towards Zoey’s door, “You just have lost connection with the world that’s all. But hey, I’m glad your going outside at least.”

Zoey shut the door behind him, and took a sigh of relief. She quickly got dressed and headed out the door.

—————————————————————————————————————————————-

Max and Zoey met up and got their coffee. They decided that they should take a walk in the park, after all, it truly was a beautiful day.

“So Max, you’ve heard enough about me and all of the nothingness I’ve been up to. How’ve you past few weeks been?”

Max laughed a little, “Umm... well I guess nothing as well. I still don’t have a job, and I need to decide if I want to renew the lease on my apartment. It’s gonna be up in a month or so, and just don’t know if I’m gonna keep it all. And with the virus supposedly coming and shutting us down for a while I might not be able to find a job.”

Zoey nodded, “Huh... wait what virus?”

Max looked at her with shock. Zoey would normally know about these things, she loves science and STEM. She followed many groups on Facebook talking about the real world and had she not turned on the news yet. “Yeah, the coronavirus,” Zoey still wasn’t following. “Well, a couple of months ago this virus broke out in China, and now it's spread to America. There are already around a hundred cases in New York same here in California. How have you not heard of this?”

“Well in my defense, my mind has been shut off and depressed a little,” Zoey shot back. But as soon as she did she regretted it because she saw the hurt in Max’s eyes.

“Oh gesse, I’m sorry Zo.”

“No I’m sorry a snapped at you,” she huffed, “I just... I’ve just been in my bubble for so long, and have been in this hays of grey that I haven’t been paying attention to anything other than myself. And then today when I woke up, my mind was cloudy or dark, it mirrored today. I just thought I should soak up the joy while I can.”

“No, I get that. And I’m glad you’ve did come outside on a day like today,” Max looked quietly directly at Zoey, “It's very beautiful.” Zoey looked down at her hands and blushed. Max clearly knew that she had yet thought of what happened with the two of them the night that her father died, and that was okay. Cause he would give Zoey all the time in the world.

“How’s your family been? How are Emily and David? Any baby yet?” Max asked, breaking their comforting silence.

“Everyone’s okay, I guess. And no baby, not yet, Emily’s still two weeks from her due date.”

“Oh okay.” They went back to just sitting there in silence a little more, “Oh, I completely forgot, I got you something.” He reached into his pocket to pull out a small velvet box that could only contain jewelry, like a ring. Zoey’s face went pale, and her eyes swelled up with shock. “Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to marry me,” Max wanted to say ‘yet’, but he thought better not. “Just open it.”

Zoey took the velvet ring box from Max’s hands. She opened it to find a gold ring with a shield in the middle. And inside the shield was an engraving of a musical note. She smiled, “It’s beautiful Max, thank you.” She reached over and hugged him.

“No problem, I just thought you can use some extra strength to protect yourself from the world.” He smiled back at her. They just sat there, looking into each other’s eyes, another comfortable silence came. Still not wanting to talk about the inevitable.

As the grew, an idea popped into Zoey’s head. “Hey, you said you might need a place to live. You can crash at my place for a little while.”

“How would that work, it's only a one-bedroom,” Max said, slowly getting uncomfortable.

“Yay, but did I ever tell you that my couch pulls out to a bed,” She smiles at him, “Come on, it's not that bad. Just until you get your footing.”

Max sighed. He really didn’t like his landlord, and his apartment was already really small. “I’ll think about it, okay.”

“Okay. But hey, If we do end up going into that lockdown, we could have a movie night, every night,” She giggled out.

“Yeah, I guess that would be fun.” Yep, being stuck in an apartment with the girl you secretly in love with would be fun.

Zoey was still smiling like a schoolgirl, “Soooo... I’m just gonna run and get a couple of things, maybe go see my mom and check in on her.” Max nodded and smiled at her, “Okay, got it.” Zoey stood up and started to walk towards her small car, “Seriously though, think about my offer.”

“I will,” Max smiled and waved back at her.

* * *

Later that night, after Zoey went to see her family, she flopped down on her couch. She was honestly so tired, she completely forgot what life could be like sometimes. Zoey turned on her tv and flipped through the channels til she found the news. She didn’t expect it to only be taking about that coronavirus Max brought up earlier today, but it was. She opened up her phone to find a coulpe of text messages from her friends and family. Maggie texted her if she wanted to comeback for dinner, but thought she just try and whip up an egg or something. Next she saw Simon texted her.

From Simon: hey, I’m just checking in. Work just isn’t the same without you.

Zoey pondered for a second, before she decided to reply.

To Simon: I’m doing good i guess. I went out of my apartment today so...

With in the next minutes Simon responded.

From Simon: Oh, that’s wonderful Zoey. Glad you got some of this beautiful sun today. Call me if you need anything

Zoey smiled at the thoughtfulness of Simons response, he really was a great guy. After scrolling through more of her texts from her family, and one from Mo asking if he need to come and find her because she hadn’t come yet, and she saw that Max texted her.

From Max: Hey, just thinking of your offer, and I’m in.

Zoey squealed with happiness, she hadn’t had a room mate since collage. As she texted him a reply for when the should start plannig his move in as the news anchor was informing the world, “As we see a raise of cases through out the California reigned, be prepared to lockdown for a coulpe of weeks to months.”


	2. Less than a week later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few days after the end of Chapter 1. All rights go to NBC and Austin Winsberg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All rights go to NBC and Austin Winsberg.

As Zoey and Max were preparing to move in to Zoey’s apartment, the world seemed to be preparing to shut down completely. People were stalking up on food, milk, soap, gloves, masks, and the most random of all, toilet paper. But Zoey wanted to make sure that she had enough coffee grounds, because if she couldn’t go to the Golden-Gate Grind to get coffee she sure as hell was going to learn to make coffee. After finishing up there conversation at Zoey’s place, she walked Max out.

“So I’ll get back to you on all the furniture I want to keep, watch isn’t much but okay,” Max said as he reached the outside of her door.

Zoey followed him, “Yep, and by the way you have all of the good movies so bring that giant blinder of yours.”

Max laughed, “Deal. So I’ll see you tomorrow with all my stuff.” As he walked down the stairs Zoey turned to go back into her apartment when she heard Mo’s door open as well.

”Howdy neighbor, what were you and Mr. Max talking bout this late in the day?” Mo questioned.

”Oh um, hey Mo... Max is moving in with me while he’s looking for a new job,” she shrugged her shoulders.

Mo clicked his tongue, “Oh really now. Are you sure that’s a smart idea, Zoey?”

“For now yes,” Zoey replied, “It’s just friends helping friends at the moment. And since you technical will be Max’s neighbor, and the neighborly thing to do is to help some one move in.”

“Really?” Mo looked at Zoey.

”Come on Mo, it’s the nice thing to do.”

Mo rolled his eyes, “Fine.” Zoey went into grab her purse and headed down the stairs. “Where you going now?”

“To see my mom, David and Emily. Family dinner night,” Zoey hollered back, “I’ll see you tomorrow for moving in day!”

* * *

As the Clarkes all sat at the dinning room table, they were eating one of the lasagnas they still had from Mitch’s wake. And were discussing a lot of the new protocols that the CDC was recommending. David was talking about how his law firm was probably going to be working from home for a week.

”Yeah, I just got a check up email from Joan saying that we might be shut down by the end of the week,” Zoey jumped in.

“Well, that’s good I guess. We can all get a break from work, I guess,” Maggie stated softly.

Zoey nodded slightly, “Well I’m still not returning to work for a couple weeks more, but I will have a lot more time to help Max unpack.”

David looked at her, “What do you mean?”

“Oh... Max is moving in with me for a little while just while he looks for a new job, he didn’t want to renew his lease on his apartment so I asked if he wanted to crash with me for a while,” Zoey explained. But now the table was silent, and everyone was staring at her and giving each other knowing glances. “Is everything alright with you guys,” Zoey pointed out.

David broke the silence, “Uh hu.”

“Do you really think that’s a good idea, hun?” Maggie asked her daughter.

”Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”

David laughed at Zoey’s naivety, “Do you really need to ask that question. Zoey isn’t it obvious.”

“What?” 

“Max clearly likes, not even he clear is in love with you,” David was still surprised at his sister obviously nature.

Zoey turned bright red. She clearly did not want to talk about this with her family, and they didn’t even know the half of it. They didn’t even know that she made out with Max one night. “Oh...he is n-...no, that’s in— were did you get that idea—,” Zoey just shut up and took a sip of her water.

Maggie gave her daughter a sly smile, “oh really.” Zoey looked away now regretting bring up the topic.

“And what’s Simon gonna think of that?” Emily shot at Zoey. Magie and David nodded in agreement.

”Well for all he knows, he knows nothing so... yeah,” Zoey still had all eyes on her. She cleared her thought, “Lets stop talking about me for a bit, Emily how are you feeling lately.”

Emily rolled her eyes, “Honestly, I just want this pregnancy over with.”

”Same here, I just want to meet my son,” David said calmly.

”Do you guys have a name yet?” Maggie asked.

Emily nodded, “We have few names we like, But only one we love.”

”Well I for one cannot wait to meet my nephew,” Zoey chimed in. They all nodded in agreement. After they finish dinner, the cleaned up the table and went there separate ways.

”Goodnight Mom, you sure you don’t want me to keep you company tonight? The house seems really big without dad here now.”

Maggie smiled at her daughters kindness, “I’m sure Zoey, thank you though. But you have a big day of unpacking to do tomorrow,” she had a grin on her face. Zoey just rolled her eyes.

”Well goodnight, I love you. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

* * *

The next morning Zoey woke up with her head pounding with thoughts. She realized later that previous night that her future nephew would never get to meet his grandfather, and that Mitch died never meeting David’s son. That just made Zoey so sad and depressed. She didn’t know how David was making it through this knowing this is how his son was living through this. But Zoey remembered that she was helping Max move in today. So she slow crawled out of her bed, and put on leggings and an old shirt she didn’t mind getting dirty. She drank her cup of coffee, and within the next hour Max arrived.

”Howdy,” he said with a smile.

Zoey tried to match Max’s enthusiasm, and put on a fake smile, “Good morning. Where’s all your stuff?”

”Oh I just have a couple of boxes, and my suit cases is full of my clothes,” He answered.

”That’s all you brought? What about your furniture?” Zoey was extremely confused.

“Well most of it actually came with the place, and since you don’t have the largest apartment I just thought i would try to sell he rest of it online. All I really brought were couple of family and friends photos, my favorite superhero posters, and... yeah that’s really it,” Max shrugged.

”Oh, okay. Well Mo is going to be happy that he does’t need to help us move anything crazy,” Zoey said nonchalantly. “Lets get a move on then.” She started to head down stairs. Max could clearly tell something was off about her, he could see it in her eyes. Her face clearly look drained of happiness, and her hair seemed less vibrant then its normal bright orange. But Max wasn’t going to bring it up unless he thought something was really bothering her.

After they brought up Max’s two boxes of things and suitcase, they started to take everything out. Starting with all his posters. Max definitely had a Marvel obsession if his posters were any evidence.

”Come on, just let me hang these two more,” Max tried to plea with Zoey.

”No Max, you’ve already got your ‘Endgame’, ‘Captain Marvel’, and ‘Captain America’ posters up, why do you need the ‘Winter solider’ one?” Zoey complained and Max’s childish nature.

”Because it’s the best one,” He explained. 

Zoey rolled her eyes, “Fine, decided between iron man and cap: winter solider, and that’s it.” 

Max gasped like she just insulted him, “How could you make me choose.”

Zoey just laughed, which Max liked to see. “Just choose the iron man poster, you already have the cap one up.”

”Ugh, fine.” He got up, and motioned to move Zoey’s ‘Everything is under control poster’.

She frantically jumped, “You can’t put the poster there.”

“Why not?”

”Because that’s my favorite poster in my place,” she tried to explain.

Max confused, “Okay, but at least let me straighten it, it always annoys the crap out of me.” He moved the crooked frame straight.

”No, no, no, no, no, nope,” She fixed the frame back, “I like the frame crooked. It reminds me that I don’t need to have everything in my life... under control.”

”Well that’s a good enough reason for me,” Max moved away from the frame, and to hag the poster on the other wall. While he did that, Zoey went to unpack the next box of things. As she open the brown box, all there was were a few framed photos of Max’s family. A couple ones of his siblings, one with his mother, and a couple of his grandparents who Zoey knew that he loved dearly. But Zoey noticed something was off with all of the pictures.

”Max? Why don’t you have any photos of your dad?” She asked timidly.

”Uh, well you know we don’t have the best relationship in the world. It’s not anything close to what you and your dad had, but all of those memories in the framed photos are from some of my fondest family memories. My Bar Mitzvah with my grandparents. Oh, that’s the last photo of me and my mom before I went to college,” Max pointed out, “And this is just a photo of my older brothers graduation that i liked.”

”But you didn’t answer my question,” Zoey seemed a little aggravated, “Its just...it’s just—.” Zoey looked close to tears. “Just forget about it,” she tried to smile off. “I’m gonna start to make dinner.” 

Max stayed silent, not knowing what to say. But he heard from the kitchen Zoey banding the pots and pans together, and he snapped back to reality. “Uh, Zo. You and I both know you don’t know how to cook,” He joked trying to lighten the mood, “Let me.”

Zoey huffed back, “fine.”

* * *

After the delicious dinner AND dessert that Max had made, Zoey was absolutely stuffed. She hadn’t eaten this much in god knows how many years.

”Ugh, Max you're going to have to make dinner like that every night.”

Max laughed at Zoey’s absurdity, “Of course I will, It can be my repayment for you letting me live here.”

“Don’t be silly, I would have let you stay here no matter what.” As she and Max finished cleaning the rest of the diner ware, an idea popped into her brain, “So, when we were unpacking your boxes today I noticed you brought your movie collection.”

”Yeah, what about it.”

Zoey had put her finger to her chin thoughtfully, “I was wondering... how about a good old movie night?”

“I would love that idea,” Max smiled. He went to go grave the binder of CDs he left on the Tv mantel, “What are you in the mood for watching tonight?”

”hmmm... how about a comedy. Though, Mo has been nagging me to get in education in musicals,” Zoey rolled her eyes remembering Mo’s addiction to musical theatre. “You pick.”

”Okay then, how about... ‘Singing in the Rain’? I’ve got that one.” Max asked.

Zoey shrugged, “Sure, I haven’t heard it before what’s it about?”

”How have you not heard of ‘Singing in the Rain’? It’s a classic.” Zoey shrugged again. Max walked over to the DVD player and put the CD in. “Get ready to have your mind blown.” Zoey giggled. Max's face lit up when he heard Zoey laugh, it was music to his ears. “It’s nice to see you happy Zoey.”

Zoey looked confused, “What do you mean?”

”Just that when I arrived this morning you seemed to be so sorrowful,” Max said, “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s made you so grey this morning?”

”It was just one of those off days I guess,” she stated. Max made his way on the couch sitting next to Zoey. That’s when it dawned on her what happened last movie night between them. Zoey slowly turns a shade of pink, while Max could feel that she was uncomfortable. They stayed there in an awkward silence as the credits at the beginning of the movie began to come on. But the silence was matched with a ping from Zoey’s phone and soon after Max’s. “Turn the news on.”

”Why?” He asked.

”I just got an emergency alert from my phone,” Zoey explained. 

_This is an official emergency alert from the California Governor. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the state is going into a mandatory shutdown. You are only allowed to leave your homes for emergencies only, if you do go outside please wear a mask and socially distance yourself at least six feet from one another. We hopefully can return to proceeding to go outside by the end of the month. Until then, do your duty and stay inside._

Zoey finished reading the alert out loud. Her head was turning. Zoey rested her head on Max’s shoulder. Max looked down at her, smiling silently. But Zoey didn’t notice, Her brain was spinning a mile a minute. “Oh god, my brain hurts from all this information.”

“How about we call it a night, and revisit everything with a fresh mind tomorrow morning,” Max suggested. Zoey agreed to that idea.

“Do you need help with the couch?” She asked.

”No, I think I got it.” 

Zoey nodded, “Well I guess we're stuck here now, together.” She lifted her head and got up from the couch, “Good night. Max.”

“Good night, Zoey,” He responded. ”And Zoey,” She turned back around, “At least we're here together,” She smiled at the thought.


	3. Week and a half later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All rights go to NBC and Austin Winsberg

Zoey woke up again, and the pain slowly spread though her body. She felt like she was frozen in time, and every single breath she took made her feel like she was drowning. Zoey turned her heard stiffly to look at the clock. 3:47. This was the sixith time this week that she had woken up before five, if she was lucky. Knowing that she wouldn’t get anymore sleep, Zoey got up out of bed. She did’t want to leave her bedroom, because she knew that Max was still sleeping on the couch. So, Zoey went to get her laptop and checked the news. This had become normal for her recently, she would check the news on the pandemic, go to the CDC website and see what they had to say about it all.

After Zoey finished that, she looked back over to her clock. 4:24. She groaned. She couldn’t keep doing this, not getting enough sleep. This feeling of emptiness was always inside her, but the air outside her head was thick and heavy. And it’s not like she didn’t know why her mind was like this. Zoey would try to go to bed each night, and the memories of her dad filled her brain. Most of them were joyous. But then she remembered with each passing memory, she would never be able to create new ones with her father. And that’s where the pain started to settle in. 

But Zoey shoved down that pain down, and got up to splash water on her face to see if it could wake her up from this tiered middle state. As she saw her reflection in the mirror, she was shocked. She didn’t know the toll no sleep was doing her face. Her eyes seemed to be farther back in her face, with dark rings under her them. Her skin looked thinner and ashy, and you could she some of the vains on her face. Zoey thought at least before she went out of her room she would put on her make up, to make her face less dull. As Zoey started to leave her bathroom, she heard a thudding noise from outside her room.

Zoey slowly opened her door, and turned her head around the corner. She saw Max trying to put the bed away. “Max?”

He jumped, “Hey”, he whispered, “What are you doing up?”

”Oh... um I couldn’t sleep, and I heard you so,” she paused, “Why are you up?”

”Yeah, same here... do you want some coffee?” He asked.

”Oh god, yes.”

Max made his way to the coffee pot, and started to brew coffee. “Did you not sleep well again?”

“Yeah... How—how did you know?” 

Max looked at her, “I can hear you sometimes in the mornings, and your eyes just look more... drained.”

Zoey looked ashamed, “Sorry, I didn’t know I was waking you up in the morning this early.”

”Oh Zo, It’s okay.”

She cut him off, “No, It’s not okay. I feel shitty enough, I don’t want to drag anyone else down with me.” She was practically screaming.

Max started to walk towards her. Zoey took in a sharp breath, so Max stoped. “Zo, It’s okay that you feel this way. But I can try to be there to help.”

“You don’t need to help me. I’m okay.” She lied. Max stayed silent. Zoey was stiff as a board. That was until max heard a shrill cry and saw tears streaming down Zoey’s face. He rushed to hold her body in a comforting hug. He slowly stroked her back to try and calm her down. But Zoey’s breathing was still seemed stagnant, and her heart rate through the roof. He walked them over to the couch where Zoey clung to Max’s chest, and Max just held her there. Slowly but surely, her breathing became slower and more steady, and her heart rate went down. He could tell that she had calmed down a little.

”I’m sorry Max,” She sniffled.

”You don’t have to apologize,” He said calmly.

”But I shouldn’t be acting like this,” she responded frantically, “It’s been weeks since I’ve lost me dad. I should be good, not in this endless cycle of not sleeping. Not eating. You know, I hadn’t left my house for four weeks. And I final thought I was doing better, I felt happier and more alive than normal. But then I stated to think of my dad, which is never a good thing any more, and I felt like a had been drowning in fog. I can’t even explain this feeling, it’s so heavy and thick. It’s cold, grey, and dark, and the feeling just seems to linger everywhere. AND I don’t even know why. I should be happy and joyous. Hell, I’m even going to be an aunt soon.” Zoey took a deep breath as so came off of her rant. She continued, “I just want life to be normal again, if that’s even the right word. Where I can sleep an entire eight hours, go to work and mange the damn team...” she wiped a tear from her face, “I just feel so broken right now, and I don’t know how to be fixed.” Zoey put her face down, and fidgeted with her hands.

Max just sat there and thought of what see had just said. He looked down at her, and saw a single tear stream down her face. “Zoey, Look at me,” he said calmingly. She didn’t look up. Max took his thumb and lifted her chin, then he swiped away the stray tear from her face. “Zoey... I have no idea what your going through right now. I’ve never lost a parent, only grandparents. But I can see when you hurting or when you can’t sleep. I can her you late at night struggling bed, and that makes it harder for me to go to bed knowing you can’t sleep... But Zo, I can always be there for you. If you ever want to talk, watch a movie, or if you even need my to hold you while you cry, I’ll be there. Ok.” 

Zoey sniffled a little, but she nodded. “Oh god, why are you so amazing.” Max giggled a little. “No, I’m serious. How did I get so lucky to get you as my best friend?”

Max shrugged and laughed, “I honestly don’t know. But I think I’m the lucky one.” Max and Zoey sat there in a comfortable silence. “Zo, I meant what I said. If you ever need me, I’m yours.”

She slapped his chest jokingly, “I can’t believe you just said that.”

”What it’s true.” He smiled at her. “So, I have an idea. How about I make us breakfast, you turn on the tv to see what new revalations have been found about the virus, and after we eat, we look up a YouTube yoga video?”

“That would be nice, thank you.”

Max got up and made his way to the kitchen, and Zoey flipped on the tv. But as she did, she heard a soft melody gaining strength.

_Oh-oh_

_If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea_

_I'll sail the world to find you_

_If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see_

_I'll be the light to guide you_

_We'll find out what we're made of_

_When we are called to help our friends in need_

_You can count on me like one, two, three_

_I'll be there_

Zoey stood up, and walked towards Max as he sang. Max slowly turned his head and started to sing directly at Zoey.

_And I know when I need it, I can count on you like four, three, two_

_And you'll be there_

_'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh, yeah_

_Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh, yeah, yeah_

_If you tossin' and you're turnin' and you just can't fall asleep_

_I'll sing a song beside you_

Max put down the spatula. He took her hand and wrapped his arm around her waist. They swayed together as Max continued to serenade her.

_And if you ever forget how much you really mean to me_

_Every day I will remind you, oh_

_We'll find out what we're made of_

_When we are called to help our friends in need_

_You can count on me like one, two, three_

_I'll be there_

_And I know when I need it, I can count on you like four, three, two_

_And you'll be there_

_'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh, yeah_

_Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh, yeah, yeah_

_You'll always have my shoulder when you cry_

_I'll never let go, never say goodbye_

_You know..._

_You can count on me 'cause I can count on you_

Max finished sining to her and let her go so he could resume make breakfast. Zoey just smiled at Max’s sincerity. She started humming the song that he was just singing, even though she didn’t know the name to it. “You know... you just sang to me.”

Max looked shocked, “Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“Why?” Zoey was confused.

”Well that’s the last thing you need from me right now...” She still had a perplexed face, “you don’t need to hear me sing of my feelings for you,” Max mumbled.

Zoey didn’t think that was the reason, “Oh, Max.” She shook her head, “That’s not what you sang about. You just sang me a song about being able to count on you. It was very sweet.”

”Oh, really?”

She smiled, “Yeah, and It also made me realize that I hadn’t heard a heart song since my father’s passing.”

“Well, I’m glad I brought back your musical powers,” His face softened with delight. “Here, sit. I finished the eggs.”

”Thanks,” She sat down, “And I hope you know that I could’ve made eggs too.”

”Yeah, really. Because Mo once told me that he had to help you put out a fire from you scrambling eggs,” He laughed.

Zoey threw her head back, “He said he wouldn’t tell anyone.”

* * *

After there half hour yoga class video, they also decided to find a work out video as well. So when the finished, they were both quiet tired. So they both sat on the couch panting. Zoey turned the news back on to find the anchors saying that the cases in California were still going up. And they weren’t stoping anytime soon.

”I bet were still stuck inside for the next month,” Max said.

Zoey shook her head, “I say it’s until a least mid May, at this rate the cases will probably keep rising for a little while.”

”Well I guess we’ll find out,” Max looked at his phone. David had texted him, and Maggie. “Uh hey, Zo. Your family’s been contacting me, you should check your phone.”

So she did, “Oh my god.” Zoey had at least 7 calls from David, 4 from her mom, plus numerous amounts of text messages from both of them.

”What, is something wrong?” Max looked nervous.

”No, Emily went into labor. Oh, I need to call my mom.” Zoey rang the phone. Maggie picked up with in two rings.

”Hello, Zoey?”

”Hey, Mom. How is Emily?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I’m not at the hospital right now, only the father and mother can be at the hospital due to COVID cases.”

“Well that’s good I guess, but do you have any idea were they are in the process.”

”Um well last time David called, Emily went into the delivery room.” 

“Oh, Okay... well i guess all we can do is wait.”

Maggie sighed through the phone, “Yay, well once the baby’s here, I’ll tell David to FaceTime you.”

”Thanks, but I’d hope he would let his sister see his baby,” Zoey joked. Maggie laughed in agreements.

“I’ll take to you later Zo, alright... Oh, tell Max as well.”

”I will. Love you mom.”

”Love you too, Zo.” Zoey hung up the phone. She turned to Max who was sitting at the edge of his seat, waiting to hear what happened.

”What, what happened? Is everyone okay?” He rambled out.

Zoey was quiet happy to see that Max cared about her family’s well being as much as her. “Yes, everyone is okay. Emily went it to the delivery room, that’s all.”

Max’s eye’s grew, “THAT’S ALL! Zoey your going to be an aunt,” He squealed.

”I’m going to be an aunt,” She danced around, “Now all we have to do is wait.”

“Here let’s watch a movie and try to take our minds off of the newest Clarke coming into the family.”

”Deal,” Zoey agreed, “How long could it take any ways.”

* * *

Well, it took longer than they both expected. As they watched their movie, they both slowly drifted to sleep after being so tired. Zoey was the first to fall asleep, and Max didn’t wake her because he knew how rough of a night she’d had. But sooner than later, he thought that he should rest his eyes. Leading them both down the path to where they were now. Cuddled up together, as the music from the credits panned out, and Zoey’s phone ringing. The noise startled them both awake. They both stared at each other awkwardly, before she went to pick up her phone.

She gasped, “It’s David, he’s FaceTiming me.”

“Well, answer it,” Max nagged. She did. And what popped up on the screen was a small bundle of joy in a blanket. There he was, with a blue beanie and smooth red skin. Zoey squealed.

”Zoey, shhh... the baby can still hear you through the phone,” David scolded her.

“Sorry, Dav. But ahhhhhh! There’s a baby.” she was so jittery.

“Yay, well let us hope he’s a baby,” Emily said from of screen.

“Hey Emily, how are you feeling?” Max asked.

David moved to sit on Emily’s hospital bed. They were both wearing mask on. “I’m okay, tired but that’s what you get for pushing a child out of your uterus,” she said sarcastically.

”Yay, well that was expected,” Max joked.

”So, does he have a name?” Zoey jumped in.

They nodded together, “Miles Peter Clarke. He was born at 7:07 pm, 7 pounds and 8 ounces.”

”Wait, he was born over an hour and a half ago and you just thought to call us,” Zoey complained.

”Well Zoey, when the baby was born the first thought that came into my head wasn’t, ‘I have to call Zoey,’” David joked. 

Zoey rolled her eyes, “Are we going to be able to meet him yet?”

”We actually don’t know. The doctor doesn’t recommend anyone else meet him for a while. But will see later down the line, we still want you to meet him,” Emily responded.

”Well we hope so, I’d love to meet my nephew,” Zoey said. Emily yawned, and Zoey took that cue that she should hang up. “Well congratulations you guys, I’m so happy for you.”

”Yay, he’s beautiful,” Max chimed in.

”Thank you, you guys. Will take it to you later alright.”

”Alright. Love ya.” Zoey turned to Max, “God, I’m an aunt.”

He laughed at her absurdity, “Yes, yes you are.”

”I feel too young to be an aunt.”

”Zo, your almost 30,” He pointed out.

”Don’t remind me,” she settled back down on the couch, resting her head on Max’s shoulder. He then put his arm around her to pull her closer to him. “What now, he asked?” He asked.

”I just want to stay here for a bit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song was ‘Count on Me’ - Bruno Mars.


	4. Mid April

It had been two weeks since Miles has blessed the Clarke family, and everyone was the happiest they had been in a long time. David and Emily were learning how to become parents, Maggie was strictly staying in her house so she could go and see the baby, and Zoey was distracted by spending way too much money buying Miles toys. And Max was there behind the scenes of it all, laughing at some of the ridiculous objects Zoey had bought, like an astronaut teething toy. Which Max responded with, ‘He’s only two weeks old, he won't have teeth for another 5-6 months.” But Zoey just ignored him, as she wanted to be the coolest aunt ever.

And it’s not like only the Clarkes were busy. Max had been trying all of these new cooking recipes, and of course, each one was flawless. He was also trying to keep up with the trends that were going around the internet, like wiped coffee.

Zoey still had a week before she had to go back to work, whatever that looked like now. But she still received occasional Emails from Joan telling her where they were on the Chirp code, same with Lief as he was taking over for her while she took her break. And sometimes she would get emails from Simon as well. He was always checking in on her.

To Zoey,

From Simon,

_Hey Zoey, I wanted to check-in and see how you were doing. You hadn’t reached out to me yet, and I was wondering if you were okay. If you ever want to go outside and have a socially distanced chat, I can be there. Hope you're doing well._

_From Simon._

Honestly, Zoey hadn’t really been thinking about Simon lately. She had been relying on Max so much with everything, that it didn’t once cross her mind that she should reach out to him. But she felt like it would be rude to not answer any more of his emails or text messages.

To Simon,

From Zoey,

_I’m doing well mostly, but not perfect. As well as most of the world, I am just stuck in my home. At this moment, I am staying away from everyone because my sister-in-law had her baby and I would like to meet him in person. But maybe I can take you up on that offer later. I hope your okay as well._

_From Zoey._

So, maybe not all of that was true. Yes, she wanted to meet Miles very much, but David and Emily weren’t going to let anyone visit at the moment other than Maggie. Which Zoey thought was completely reasonable. And she honestly still liked Simon, he was nice and very cute, but he hadn’t been there like Max had. Max had continued to comfort Zoey when she needed it. He’d let her chose to get take out a couple of times a week, she was the one who always chose what movie they watched, he had even started listening to the podcast she liked when they were home. And Max didn’t like podcasts, he would much rather listen to his 80s rock albums.

That’s what Zoey liked so much about him. Max always seemed to put Zoey first.

Not very later, Zoey got a response to her email.

From Simon,

To Zoey,

_Congratulations on becoming an aunt Zoey, that’s so wonderful. And I totally get why you don’t want to go outside. Just take your time, and stay in touch if you need anything._

_From, Simon._

Not a second later after Zoey finished reading the email, Max walked into the apartment. He took his mask off and set the mail down on the table.

”Hey did you see these, Mo made the entire building masks,” Max showed off a perfectly sewed mask, with plenty of colorful patterns and style.

”Those are so cool,” She responded.

”Hey, who’s emailing you?” Max noticed her open-faced laptop.

She shut down the computer at once, “Just Joan, making sure I have everything ready to start back up at SPRQ point soon.”

”Okay,” Max looked as those she believed her lie, even though he didn’t, at all. “I was thinking, the weather is really nice right now. You want to mask up and go for a run?”

Zoey laughed at the absurdity, “Max, neither of us like cardio.” Max agreed with but that statement. “But, that doesn't mean we can’t go for a walk in the park.”

“Okay, let's go.” 

* * *

As they made their way around the park, they just talked.

“It really is pretty today,” Zoey said, “Look at the flowers that started to blossom.” She pointed to a small group of lavender tulips starting to bloom.

Max smiled, “Yeah, they sure are pretty.” 

“Hey, Max?” He looked at her, “You don’t have to answer this, honestly you probably won't. Maybe I’m not really sure about it... It’s just that you don’t talk about it that much...” Zoey rambled.

”Get to the point, Zo.”

Zoey said slowly, “What happened between you and your dad? I know you guys don’t get along, but why is that?”

Max sighed. He didn’t even know were to start. “Well... me and my dad never really had that father son bond. He always seemed to hang out with my older brother, and talk sports and stuff. And while I do like baseball and wrestling, I never actually played any sports. So, I feel like that’s where the divide started.” He kind of laughed, trying to lighten the mood. “But, I think what really set everything downhill was when I told my family I wanted to go out of state for college. Not even that, I told them I didn’t want to be apart of the family business.” He paused to catch his thoughts. “Yeah, so I guess that’s it. Ever since I moved my dad had always been a mix of telling me I should go back to New York and become a dentist or that I have derailed the family name.”

There was a silence where Zoey was just trying to comprehend everything Max had told her. “Wow, just wow.”

“I know right,” He responded.

”How can you just talk about that so easily? You just seemed so confident when you talked about your dad like that, and it seemed to cause no pain,” she pointed out.

He thought for a moment, “I think it’s because I’m so used to it, and that I’ve excepted that my dad and I will never have a perfect relationship.”

“And you’ve just accepted that?” Max nodded, “oh, Max. I’m so sorry.”

”Well, I’m not. It’s not my fault the way my father is. I just want to live my life, surrounded by the people who love me the most, and stay in relative connection with my family,” He retorted. 

Without even realizing what she was doing, Zoey put her hand in Max’s. She looked him in the eyes, “Max, if you ever need anyone to talk to, or just unpack anything in your life, you can come to me. Like the way you have come to my aid this past couple of weeks.”

”Thanks, Zo,” He smiled at her, “I really hope you know you're my best friend.”

”And your mine.” As Zoey said that, she felt a small drop of water come from above her. She looked up and the now grey sky, and saw more raindrops fall. “I thought you said that the weather was nice today.” She giggled.

”I knew it was supposed to rain, but the forecast said that it would be later this night.”

”Max,” she whined. Now it was completely pouring down on them. “Ugh, I’m soaked.” And she truly was. Her hair was sticking to her face, and her socks were squishy with water. 

“Come on, we still have to walk home,” Max laughed. He seemed to be enjoying this more than her. Zoey started to laugh, trying to enjoy this moment a little more. Max pulled on her hand, which he was still holding. “Zoey, let’s go.” Zoey looked straight into his eyes, and Max did the same. All he could see in her eyes was joy and happiness, and all she could see in his eyes was love. Their breathing seemed to be in rythme, and they just stood there, in their little bubble. That was until they heard a crack of thunder off in the distance.

”Okay, okay. Let's go,” she said. Zoey still holding his hand pulled him down the street in a small jog out of the park. Both of them knew that this memory would never leave their minds for a long time, as they had both learned something at this moment. But it wasn’t just the two of them, because little did Zoey know there was someone else watching them at the park.

* * *

Zoey and Max came bursting through the apartment door, as now there wasn’t a single part of their bodies were covered with water. They were still both laughing at the craziness of their current situation. They looked at each other and laughed again. Zoey tried to calm herself down by taking deep breaths, and returning to reality. As she did, her mind realized that there was something in her hand. So looked down to find Max’s hand still holding hers. She looked up to find Max staring at her, not knowing what to do. The silence was defining. She cleared her throat to try and break the quietness in the apartment. She slowly let go of his hand and letting hers fall to her side. As the silence continued, Zoey started to fidget with the ring Max got her on her middle finger, wishing at this moment that it could make her disappear.

”Um... I’m gonna... I’m just going to take the masks to the dryer, we don’t want Mo to get mad at us for ruining his masks,” Max said softly.

Zoey looked at him softly, “Okay. I’m going to go dry off, and put of warm clothes.” Max nodded at her and they went their separate ways. After Zoey dried off and put sweatpants and a sweatshirt on, she heard a ding come from her laptop. She had received an email, and she assumed it was David with yet another file of baby pictures. Not that Zoey minded though, Miles sure was a cute kid. But it wasn’t David. It was Simon.

From Simon,

To Zoey,

_So, I wasn’t going to bring this up, but I saw you and Max in the park today. And I know it isn’t my place to ask, but I was just wondering why you lied to me? If you and Max are in a relationship I can support you as a friend, I promise. But please I would like some answers. Take care_

_From, Simon._

Zoey mentally took a step back. She didn’t know what to say, or to do. She just looked at her laptop aimlessly. Zoey hasn’t had to deal with this yet, her feelings for either Max or Simon so upfront. She had kind of just swiped it under a rug to deal with later, but now she found that the rug had caught on fire. But Zoey had to write him back. So she just wrote what she knew what had to be done, a complete and honest email to Simon explaining everything. And of course, once she had finished and sent the letter, Max at that very moment walked into the living room, in fresh fry clothes.

”Hey, what are you writing?” He asked nonchalantly.

With Zoey’s brain still on autopilot, “Oh, just an email to Simon.” She wanted to smack herself in the head for that. And she should have when she saw Max’s face drop, and his eyes grow weak.

”Oh...okay,” he said timidly. He turned his back to Zoey and pulled a pan to start dinner. 

Zoey didn’t know what to say, all she could tell is that her best friend was hurting. “Max? Are you—,” she was cut off by a slow cascading piano. 

_Coming out of my cage_

  
_And I've been doing just fine_

  
_Gotta gotta be down_

  
_Because I want it all_

  
_It started out with a kiss_

Zoey honestly had know idea where this side of make was coming from. But there he was, standing in the kitchen moving in a very painful movement.

  
_How did it end up like this?_

  
_It was only a kiss, it was only a kiss_

  
_Now I'm falling asleep_

  
_And she's calling a cab_

  
_While he's having a smoke_

  
_And she's taking a drag_

  
_Now they're going to bed_

  
_And my stomach is sick_

  
_And it's all in my head_

  
_But she's touching his chest now_

  
_He takes off her dress now_

  
_Let me go_

Zoey honestly just wanted to slap Max, he got all the facts wrong. And she wanted to tell him straight what happened. But Max struggled on with his painful performance.

  
_And I just can't look, it's killing me_

  
_And taking control_

_Jealousy, turning saints into the sea_

  
_Swimming through sick lullabies_

  
_Choking on your alibis_

  
_But it's just the price I pay_

He slowed down his movements, and clutch his heart like it fell out of his chest. And he closed his eyes, trying not to feel the pain.

  
_Destiny is calling me_

  
_Open up my eager eyes_

  
_'Cause I'm Mr. Brightside_

Once Max finished his song, he seamlessly blended back it cooking dinner. Which he had finished apparently in real life. “Here’s dinner.” He handed Zoey a plate professional served pasta dish, but there was only one plate. After Max handed her the food, he put the pots in the sink to be cleaned later. Then he walked away from the kitchen, away from Zoey.

”Wait Max, why aren’t you eating?”

”I’m just not hungry right now,” He responded quietly. He started going into the other room again.

”Max...” she called out to him. Max turned around slowly, not wanting to look at her face. Afraid that his heart would only be damaged. “Is everything oh-okay?”

”How about you tell me, or do I need to sing it to you?” He snapped back.

Zoey was shocked, “You actually did, and I want to check in on you. Are you alright?”

He rolled his eyes, “You don’t know why I’m acting like this. REALLY?” Zoey still was confused. Max took a deep breath in, “I know about you and Simon.”

”What, what do you mean?” She questioned back not knowing where he got this idea from.

”I know you still like him, I know that you kissed him. I know that you keep emailing him, and he emails you,” He paused. “I can respect your decision, and I’m happy for you Zo. But please can we just take a step back for a little bit?” After he finished talking, walked back towards the living room.

And Zoey got up immediately after him. “Whoa, Max stop. Please. Let me explain.”

”Zoey, I don’t need you to explain. I get all of it,” He looked so hurt.

“Sit, please.” he didn’t move from his standing position. “Max, I listened to your messy rant. Can you please try and listen to mine.” She’s almost positive that she heard say under his breath that he didn’t ramble, but she just ignored him.

”Okay, go ahead Zoey,” He sounded so cold.

”Max, you got it all wrong,” he was about to jump in, but she stoped him. “I promise you. There’s nothing going on between me and Simon. Yes, I kissed him once,” Max’s face fell, “But that was months ago. I don’t have any feeling for him, I would only call it a residual attraction.” Zoey collected her thoughts, trying to figure out how she was going to say what she wanted. “I don’t want to be with Simon anymore.”

Max looked ashamed, “Oh. Oh god. I am so sorry Zoey. I jumped to all those conclusions, and non of them were correct.”

”Well... He has been emailing me lately. Just stuff like him asking if he wanted to meet outside and talk about stuff. But I actually lied to him on why I didn’t want to meet him,” Max looked a little surprised at what Zoey had admitted. “I know not my finest moment. But the point is... the point is. Ugh I don’t even know how to say this in words.”

”It’s okay, Zo. Take your time,” He responded.

Zoey got up to get her laptop, “Here, how about you just read the response I wrote to him.” Max was kind of confused, but he wasn’t going argue with Zoey any more.

From Zoey,

To Simon,

_I am so sorry I lied to you, Simon. I didn’t intend to hurt you. This is probably were I should tell you that me and Max are living together. Max and I have been friends for a long time, and he needed a place to stay. I care for Max very much. He is probably the most important person in my life, and he means everything to me. I know you and I have a connection, but I feel that that connection his solely relies on grief. Simon your a really nice guy, and I really think someone special is out there for you. If you you still want, I can be your friend and we can still keep in touch. But until then, goodbye._

_From Zoey._

Once Maxed finished ready the email, he closed the laptop. He didn’t know what to make of himself. He had just confronted Zoey telling her that he “knew” about her and Simon. But man, was he wrong. It seemed to be the exact opposite of what he expected. After he had realized that hew screwed up, Max looked up to find Zoey with her head down. She was also fidgeting with the ring he had bought her, hoping that it would give her some strength at this moment. 

“Zoey?” Max whispered.

“Yeah,” She sniffled. Zoey tilted her face up just enough so that she could see Max.

He grabbed her immediately as she broke down in tears, “Please don’t cry.”

”I’m not,” she cried. He gave her a look that said ‘really?’. “Okay, yes I am crying these aren’t tears of sadness. There tears of relief.”

“What do you mean?”

Zoey got up from Max’s embrace, and faced him on the couch. She wiped her tears. “Max, I know we haven’t really discussed what happened the night my dad... the day he passed. Or what it meant to.. us.” Zoey paused, she didn’t know were she was going with any of this. “But I know what it meant to me. And I totally get if I’m to late and you’ve moved on, that you probably don’t want to go back down that road. And that’s totally fine, I’m cool with that.” Zoey was clearly lying, but she honestly didn’t know how Max felt about anything at this point. “So, yeah...” She stood up, “I’m just going to g— wait it’s my place and there’s a pandemic outside. Never mind, I’ll just go to bed.”

Max reach out for her hand, to make her stop. “Zoey, wait.” She did. “Can you look at me or sit back down.” She sat back down next to Max. “Zoey, why would you ever think that, I— No. I still like you, Zo. I still like you a lot, more than you know.” She looked into his eyes with almost disbelief. “And I don’t think my heart is capable of ever letting go of you, Zoey.”

”Oh... really?”

”Yes, really,” He said, and Zoey believed him. They sat there staring at each other. Max was still holding on to her hand. “So... So what now?”

”I don’t really know. But, I do know one thing.” Max looked at her to continue. “I’m not ready yet for a relationship. My life is already in shambles. There’s this hole in my heart that I’m learning to fix, and right now I just need some consistency in my life. And I know that’s not what you want to hear, but that’s were I am right now. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry. There is nothing to be sorry about,” Max stated. “Your being honest with yourself, and putting yourself first. And thanks okay right now.”

”Yeah, I know but feel bad. I’m making you wait for me,” she explained.

”But I don’t mind. I have waited this long, haven’t I? And I will wait for you. If that means three months, if that means a year, I will still wait for you. I would wait for ever, if it meant that we would get to be together at some point in time.”

”God, your so sappy,” she rested her head on his chest. He kissed her on her head. As she started to get comfortable sitting there with Max, she could her the start of guitar cords.

_Well I came home_

  
_Like a stone_

_And I fell heavy into your arms_

  
_These days of dust_

  
_Which we've known_

_Will blow away with this new sun_

_But I'll kneel down_

  
_Wait for now_

  
_And I'll kneel down_

  
_Know my ground_

_And I will wait, I will wait for you_

_And I will wait, I will wait for you_

_Now I'll be bold_

  
_As well as strong_

  
_And use my head alongside my heart_

  
_So take my flesh_

  
_And fix my eyes_

  
_A tethered mind free from the lies_

_And I'll kneel down_

  
_Wait for now_

  
_I'll kneel down_

  
_Know my ground, woo_

_Raise my hands_

  
_Paint my spirit gold_

  
_And bow my head_

  
_Keep my heart slow_

_'Cause I will wait, I will wait for you_

  
_And I will wait, I will wait for you_

_And I will wait, I will wait for you_

_And I will wait, I will wait for you_

The tempo of the song aloud down to a stop. Zoey looked at Max with pure happiness in her eyes.

Max looked her straight in the her beautiful blue eyes. “I hope you know, your it for me Zoey.” She smiled, with one single watery tear strolling down her face. 

“Thank you, Max.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song is Mr. Brightside - The Killers (try to imagine the song in a sweeping ballad)  
> Other song I Will Wait - Mumford & Sons


	5. The Next Week

It had been a week since Zoey and Max’s heartfelt conversation, and the pair seemed to be doing well. They were closer than ever before. Max seemed to be relying on Zoey more, emotionally. He seemed to be opening up to her more, and that made everything more comfortable. They could just lounge around all day in each other’s company. But today was quite different from the rest, Zoey was going back to work. She would have to start the day off by login if into Zoom for a catch up with Joan, and to see how to do everything all digitally. But she was returning to work, none the less. And she was still extremely stressed out. 

She was still sleeping in after tossing and turning all night, and Max was getting concerned. Zoey only had an hour to get ready. So he knocked on Zoey’s door, “Zo....” No answer. “Zoey, come on. You got work today.” He still didn’t hear her get up. So he slowly opened her door, to find a giant mound of blankets. Max moved to the side of the bed were Zoey was sleeping. He honestly hated that he had to wake her up. She looked so peaceful. “Zoey,” he whispered. “Zo, you got to wake up.” He rubbed her shoulder to wake try and wake her up.

She begrudgingly moved, “No. I need sleep,” she whined.

Max hummed a tune in Zoey’s ear, “ _When I wake up in the morning, love. And the sunlight hurts my eyes..._ _And something without warning, love,”_ Max continued to sing. Zoey couldn’t honestly think of a better way to wake up. “ _Bears heavy on my mind. Then I look at you_. _And the world's alright with me_. _Just one look at you_ , _And I know it's gonna be_ _A lovely day.”_ Max smiled as he finished his little snippet of song. “Good Morning, Zo.”

”Good morning,” she was awake and smiling, nothing better in Max’s mind. “You know you just sang to me?”

”Yes. Yes, I do.”

Zoey got up onto her fore arms, and looked and him with suspicion. “Wait, that was real.”

Max giggled, “Yes, that was real. I wanted you to wake up on the right side of the bed.”

”Well, it worked.

”I’m glad,” He stood up, and kissed her on her head. “Come on, I started breakfast.”

“Okay, just let me get dressed.” Max nodded, and closed the door behind him. After Zoey got dressed, she walked out of her room and found the smell of eggs and bacon. “Max, you didn’t have to make all of this.”

”I wanted today to go as easy as possible for you,” He said sweetly.

”God, why are you so amazing?” All Max did was shrug. Zoey heard a ding from her phone. She checked to she it was from her mom. There was a video of Maggie getting to hold the now month old Miles. He gaggled as she held him, and Maggie had pure pride on her face. “Max, look at this video.” She showed him the phone.

”Aw, that kid is so cute.”

”Yeah, to bad we haven’t gotten to meet him yet,” she sighed.

He put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, “I bet you, he wants to meet his Aunt Zoey just as much as you want to meet him.”

”I also think that he wants to meet his Uncle Max,” she retorted. He paused. He looked at Zoey, and just smiled slightly. “Hey, what’s with that look?”

”Oh, just nothing.” Still smiling like an idiot. 

“What? I want to know. What’s with you?” She jokingly poked him in the shoulder until she got his answer.

“Okay, fine. I just really like the name ‘Uncle Max’.” Zoey stopped dead in her tracks. “What?”

”I also really like ‘Uncle Max’, too.” Zoey said. She finished eating her eggs and cleaned off her plate. She checked her the time on her phone. “Oh I have to get to work... on a computer.” Max laughed at her. “I swear one day the world will be ruled by robots.”

”Zoey,” he shouted out to her, “Good luck today.”

”Thanks.” Zoey went into her room, and sat at her makeshift desk. She opened up her laptop and logged on to the zoom meeting she had with Joan. She saw Joan’s icon popped up on, “Good morning, Joan.”

“Hello, Zoey. How have you been insolation?” Joan asked.

”Oh, just dandy. How about you?”

“I’m doing good. One thing I have learned from isolation is that you can never have too many dogs, so I picked up three more.”

”That’s good.”

”So, I hope you took all the time you needed, because we are going to dive straight into work. Starting with a promotion.” Joan said.

Zoey thought she miss heard her, “What?”

”Yep, that’s right. You Miss Zoey, are going to be running the 4th floor. Isn’t that fun?”

”Joan, I was planning just to ease into work.” She explained.

”Okay, I get that. But I also need a successor in place while I’m running the entire company. And I want that to be you sweat-cheeks.” Joan could tell that this was overwhelming Zoey, just the look on her face was enough. “Hey, Zoey. If you don’t want the promotion I get it, you don’t have to take it. But you are clearly the best person for the job, other than me.”

Zoey thought for a second, “Can I just think about it?”

Joan nodded, “Of course you can. Just get back to me by the end of the week. I’ll let you get to work.”

”Thanks, Joan.”

”And Zoey, good luck.” Zoey’s computer screen went dark. Great, now she had one more thing to think about. But she had to put that on hold for now, because she needed to have a ketchup meeting with Lief to see were they are with the Chirp. If Zoey was being honest, she was not looking forward to Zooming with Leif, at all. There was something just about his smug narcissistic face looking at you through a camera. It’s not like she had a choice any ways, so she called into her next meeting.

With one ping, Leif’s video was on her screen. He waved, “Hey, Zoey.”

”Hey, Leif. How you doing?”

”Fine, fine, fine,” He murmured off. But he didn’t really look fine. He had a beanie on covering his hair, and he grew his facial hair out as well. “So where do you want to begin?”

”Just tell me where we are with the Chirp.” He nodded and started to pull up all the work files, and progress reports. The team was a little behind on the timeline, but that didn’t seem like the biggest problem. The biggest problem was, ever since Danny Micheal Davis had been under house arrest a lot of things had lost funding. But what Leif’s personal problem was weather he and Zoey were going to have to work together.

”So that’s it,” Leif finished. 

“Wow, okay.” She was quite dumbfounded of all the information she was just given. “Um, thank you Leif, for all of that. Now I have a few, couple, problems to fix. Talk to the team about all of this and where to move forward. But this is all good... So, Bye now.”

Before she left the meeting a voice called out from the other side of the screen, “Hold up! Is that Zoey?”

”Yes, Tobes it is.” Tobin came into view on camera .

”Hey, Zodog. How you doing. Death becomes you, am I right!” Tobin said with enthusiasm.

Great, just what Zoey needed to day. “Hi, Tobin.” she rolled her eyes. “Wait, you guys live together?”

”Yeah, were else would I live,” Tobin responded like a smart-ass.

Lief jumped, “We’ve probably lived together for...” he turned to Tobin, “What, the past six years.”

”Ya, I really don’t know how long we’ve lived together. But that’s old news.” Tobin joked.

Zoey just wanted this over with, “I’m just going to go. Bye guys. Get to work!” She shut off her laptop. She walked out her room for lunch. Max was sitting on the couch watching tv when he noticed Zoey emerged from her room.

”Hey, I made sandwiches for us.” He got up. “So... how was it so for?”

Zoey sarcastically laughed, “Well... it’s crazy. It feels like a hundred things have been thrown at me, all at the same time, and I don’t know what to do with it.”

”Okay, then do you want to talk about?”

”Yeah. Later though, I still have the other half of the day to get through.” Max nodded. “Oh, did you know that Tobin and Leif live together?”

”Yeah, I’m pretty sure they mentioned it once before. But other than that, know not really.”

“There already living together, they should just go ahead and get together already. It’s so obvious that they like each other,” she retorted.

”I know right,” Max chimed in, “They clearly have some hidden feelings for each other, and there just to scared to take a leap into faith.”

”Exactly. So Max, how has your day been so far?”

Max sighed, “Well, after you went to your room for work, I sat on the couch and watch a couple episodes of ‘Game of Thrones’. Then I moved from one position on the couch to another, and watched more tv. And now, here we are.”

”Wow, know offense but that sounds kind of boring.” She felt kind of bad for him.

”Boring, no. I really like Ned Stark, and seeing Aqua Man riding horses is really entertaining. But was I lonely... yeah, a little bit.” 

“Oh Max,” she reached across the table, and grabbed his hand. “I’m so sorry your lonely. I wish I could do something.”

”Same here, but you have to work. The fourth floor has already suffered enough with you gone, and I can’t hog you from the rest of the world,” he quipped, trying to lighten the mood.

“But still, It’s only half way through the day. How are you going to make it through... god knows how long this pandemic will last.” She gestured.

Max thought for a second, “I don’t think I’ll be able to find a job yet, considering the economy. So I’ll just find a hobby for a while. Learn how to bake bread, or have Mo teach me some crafty thing through zoom.”

”Well, at least you have some sort of idea what you want to do, but until then,” she took the last bite of her sandwich, “I have to get back to work.” 

“Got it.”

”I’ll see you in about four to five hours,” she got up and went back to work. Just another regular day at the office.

* * *

Zoey stumbled and grumbled out of her bedroom on what felt like the longest workday of her life, and that was again a lot because she once sang aloud to her entire building. She walked over to the couch, and just face-planted straight onto the sofa. 

“Zo, you good?” Max looked at the disheveled Zoey on the couch. She murmured something into the couch. “I can’t understand you, can you repeat for me.”

She lifted her head up so he could hear her. “Yep, I so good,” she said with a sarcastic tone. 

“Well, why don’t you tell me all about over the thai I got for us.” After Max mentioned thai food, Zoey immediately sprang up. Max laughed at her, “Come on goofball. Tell me what about your day made you feel like... whatever this is?” He motioned at Zoey.

She took a seat at the small dining room table, “So you wanna hear about my day?”

”Yes please, I strive for content.”

”My day started off with Joan offering me a promotion, which is not what I need right now. Then Lief was just being Leif, he also told me about every single little problem that the team was having. And then after lunch, Gabe could not submit his code, Glenn seemed very apposed to working, and Tobin made all of that better with his regular misogynistic words,” Zoey finished.

”Wow. But here’s the thing, it will only get easier,” He pointed out. 

“I hope so.”

”Do you know what you're going to do?” Zoey looked at him, not understanding what he was talking about. “About the promotion?”

”Uh... no. I don’t know what I want to do about that yet.” Zoey sighed, “I don’t think I’m going to take it.”

“What? Why!?” He questioned.

”Because I want something constant in my life, something that will remain the same,” she explained.

”Do you want my opinion on the matter?” She nodded, “I think you should take it. I really hate to break this to you Zo, but the world has carried on without. In whatever weird, wacky, pandemic way that is. And by taking the job, I think that would be a way for you to start reconnecting with the part of the world that has progressed without you... in a sense.”

”Did anyone ever tell you you give really good advice?” He giggled at her response. “Know seriously. You are so helpful and amazing. You have really opened up my mind a little. That still doesn’t mean I’ll take the job, but I am leaning towards it more.”

”Okay, glad I could help in some way.”

”Me too,” she smiled at him.

”And you were wrong about something.” He pointed out.

”What’s that?” she gave him a confused glance.

”You do have something consistent in your life. Me.” 

She looked at him with so much devotion, and belief. “You are simply the best, Max.”

”Better than all the rest.” He joked. Again she looked confused again. “Seriously, you don’t know that song.”

”Max, have you met me. My music knowledge comes from what I hear from people singing on the streets.” Max rolled his eyes.

“I know what tv show we can watch after we eat,” Max smirked. And so after dinner, they started watching ‘Schitt’s Creak’. And they sat close together, snuggled up. Resting their heads on one another, letting their problems from the world fade away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Lovely Day - Bill Withers


	6. May

_Zoey woke up from a dream-like hays. It was still dark outside, but she felt well-rested. So she sat up in bed and got up. She looked outside there was something off. She couldn’t see anything outside, just complete nothingness. A dark empty void, that seemed to still be hustling with life. Zoey could hear the world outside her window. The honking of cars, the smell of the morning dew. But she didn’t think anything of it. She walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth in the morning. But when she looked in the mirror over her sink, her reflection matched a perfect image. Her hair was in a perfectly coiffed ponytail. She was wearing a nice dress, it was red and had an open back. Zoey seemed to see an ideal image of herself._

_She left her bedroom to go eat breakfast with Max, with all of the work that she had been doing they had formed a routine where he would make her breakfast for them. But as she turned to the corner of the wall, Max was know were to be found. He wasn’t sitting on the couch watching tv, or in the kitchen making food. His posters were also missing from the walls, and all of his family pictures were gone. Zoey then felt something different, like something was missing. She looked down at her hands and saw that her ring that Max gave her was missing. Zoey raced back to her bedroom to see if it was on her side dresser, but she couldn’t find it. She was very disappointed in herself, how as she going to explain to Max that she lost his ring. But she first had to solve the problem of finding Max, he still was know where to be found._

_She went back out of her room again to see if she could find some sort of clue as to where Max had gone, but there was nothing. Zoey checked the kitchen one last time to see if anybody was there. She turned into the kitchen to find a person standing there is a nice clean polished suit. His smile was warm and spread happiness to Zoey’s brain. Like a drug that just kept on giving. The man reached out for her hand, and she took it. Zoey didn’t know why but she felt an urge to hug the old man. And he in return hugged her back, in the most selfless way possible. She looked up at the man, and her face lit up with joy. A single tear of happiness streamed down her face. But the old man wiped it away._

_”Oh sweetie, you don’t have to cry anymore,” He said in a sing-song type voice._

_”Dad?”_

_“Yes, my dear?” Mitch replied to his daughter._

_she grabbed onto his suit jacket like she would lose him all over again, “It’s you it’s really you.”_

_”Who else would it be?”_

_”But you were gone... you died,” She cried._

_”Well, I’m alive now. And that’s all that matters,” He soothed her._

_Zoey clutched his body, “I thought I lost you.”_

_”You never did, I was always her,” he pointed to her heart. Zoey smiled at him._

_”But Dad, I’m so confused. Where’s Max?”_

_Mitch had a confused look on his face, “Who’s Max?”_

_”He’s my best friend.”  
_

_”I’ve never met any Max before. He must not exist.”_

_She shook her head, “No, that can’t be.” Mitch tilted his head and looked at her. “What do you mean. He lives here,” she cried out. “Bring him back.”_

_”Bring who back?” Mitch asked. “I’m here, isn’t this who you wanted alive. Your good old dad. Your perfect complete family, with your sweet loving mother. You have David and his perfect wife, and their little Miles.” There in the distance, a fog of dust reveals her family. All smiling and looking at her. “Isn’t this what you dreamed for, all of us together again.” Maggie walked over and softly reached out for Zoey’s hand, she leads her over to Emily, where she was holding Miles. Emily looked at Zoey and handed her baby Miles. There he cooed in her arms, and Zoey smiled at holding her nephew in her arms. Then her mind went back to thinking of Max, and how he was missing this touching moment to then only remember he wasn’t there._

_“Where’s Max?” She asked with more urgency._

_”He’s not here.” Mitch sighed._

_”Well then bring him ba—,” She stomped her foot._

_”NO!” Mitch boomed. Zoey shook at his outburst. Mitch recollected himself back into a calming manner, “Zoey, he isn’t coming back.”_

_”What, why,” she cried._

_Her dad just looked at her, “You know what... you don’t deserve this.” He snapped his fingers, and Miles disintegrated in her hand arms. Then she looked all around her to see her mom and brother reduce to ash in front of her eyes._

_”Why- why are you doing this?” She mumbled out._

_”To show you what you really need.”_

_”NO! What I need is Max,” she begged, “I need him to function, to be by my side. I love him.”_

_”You don’t love him. He’s not real. Only a figment of your imagination. And if he were real he wouldn’t be able to love a being like you.”_

_Zoey shook her head, “No this isn’t real... this can’t be real.” She ran to her front door and ripped it open. She sprinted out of her apartment to only find black. Deep dark void with nothing surrounding it, that went on for miles. Zoey turned around to leave, and go back to her door. But it was gone. “No, no, no, no, no... Please, don’t do this to me,” she cried out._

_”Do what,” her father’s voice echoed out._

_”Max!” She screamed._

_”Max!”_

_“Zoey!” She could hear his voice, “Zoey where are you?”_

_”I’m right here.” She saw Max in the distance and ran to him. He had a concerned face, as he was looking at Zoey wallowing with tears. “Max, I found you.” He said nothing. “Max? Max, answer me.” He still said nothing, but she did her a faint guitar in the background._

Well, when you go

  
Don't ever think I'll make you try to stay

  
And maybe when you get back

  
I'll be off to find another way

And after all this time that you still owe

  
You're still the good-for-nothing, I don't know

  
So take your gloves and get out

  
Better get out

  
While you can

When you go

  
And would you even turn to say

  
I don't love you

  
Like I did

  
Yesterday

_”No,” She cried, “Max. No, please. I love. No, no. NO!”_

Sometimes I cry so hard from pleading

  
So sick and tired of all the needless beating

  
But baby when they knock you

  
Down and out

  
It's where you oughta stay

_At that very moment was when Max started to fade in and out of reality. For only a few seconds later for him to completely blow away from Zoey’s existence._

_”Max, no. Please stay.” Even though He was gone, his voice echoed on. And the song was there, taunting her._

And after all the blood that you still owe

  
Another dollar's just another blow

  
To fix your eyes and get up

  
Better get up

  
While you can

  
Whoa, whoa

When you go

  
And would you even turn to say

  
I don't love you

  
Like I did

  
Yesterday

_Zoey collapsed to the ground and cried a river of tears. “Max,”_

_”Max, please Max. No.”_

”Zoey!”

”Zoey!”

“Come on, Zo. Please wake up!” Max shook her awake. Zoey’s eyes bulged open. She sat up from her bed, breathing heavily. Her face was covered with sweat, and her hair was stuck to the back of her neck. As her memory recovered of what she dreamt, heavy tears came from her eyes. But she didn’t wail with sadness.

”Max?” He was sitting right next to her, waiting on the edge of his seat to find out if she was okay. “Max, are... are you real?” She reached up and touched his face, to make sure he wouldn’t disappear from her.

“I right here, Zo,” He took her hand, “I’m not going anywhere.” Zoey leaned onto Max, taking in every inch of him to make sure he was there. “Zoey, are you okay? What happened?”

She wiped her tears, “It was nothing, just a bad dream.”

”Really? Because you were screaming for me, and crying. I was so scared, I’ve never seen you like that.” Max said.

”I’m okay, I swear.” She tried to give him a fake smile, but she knew it wouldn’t work.

”Do you want to talk about it? The dream?” He asked.

She was going to tell him, Zoey was going to tell him all about the dream. She remembered everything perfectly, but if she did tell him, she would have to reveal the thing she didn’t want to reveal at all. “I... I want to. But I can’t.”

He nodded, accepting that he wasn’t going to get it out of her. And he wasn’t going to force her to share. “Okay. It’s ten o’clock, so if you wanna get up you can.”

”Really? Why didn’t you wake me up?” She asked.

”Zo, it’s a Sunday. You don’t have work, and you’ve been pushing yourself the way too hard now with this new promotion and all. I didn’t want to wake you, you needed the rest.” He explained.

“Okay, I’m up now.” She huffed. She wobbled out of bed, only for Max to catch her. “I’m good. Thanks, Max”

Max knew that was a lie, but he didn’t want to make her anymore unstable than she already was.

* * *

_Better get up_

  
_While you can_

  
_Whoa, whoa_

_When you go_

  
_And would you even turn to say_

  
_I don't love you_

  
_Like I did_

  
_Yesterday_

_“No, please no!” She screamed._

She shot up from her bed, panting and sweaty. She looked to her side to again find Max at her side, but she completely disregarded him. She pulled the covers off of her, and got up. She walked into the kitchen and poured herself of dark mug of coffee. 

“Zoey, please. It’s been almost two weeks of you waking up like this. Tell me how I can help.” Max pleaded. All Zoey did was shake her head. “Okay can you tell me one thing. Is this your normal every day stubbornness and acting like you don’t need me, or is there something else going on?”

”It’s something else,” her voice was shaky.

“Okay. Then tell me what it is, maybe I can help you.”

”YOU CAN’T HELP ME MAX, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE. YOUR HOVERING OVER ME AND I CAN’T STAND IT ANYMORE!!!” Zoey’s voice boomed through out the apartment. It was so sudden that it made Max jump. Zoey didn’t know what just happened, she had a ringing in her ears and a faint headache. But she looked around the apartment to find Max. He looked small and scared, his eyes seemed to be holding back the tears. Once she saw that image of him, she couldn’t even look him. She was so ashamed, that she herself started to cry. Max came forward to try and comfort her, but she backed away, walking straight into the table. “No. No. Please no.” She grabbed her mask, an ran out of the apartment. Zoey slammed the door on the way out, and that was Max’s que to break down.

Not moments later, there was a knock at the door. He didn’t answer it. There it was again. “Hey come on, I know you can hear me.” Mo said. Max collected himself. “Put your mask on, because I’m coming in.” Mo said sternly.

He opened the door to find a angry Mo, “Hi.” Max said timidly.

”WHAT IN GODS NAME DID YO—!!” Mo stoped when he noticed the fragile Max standing in front of him. His eyes were red, and puffy. Mo quickly engulfed Max in a hug. “Child what happened?” So Max told him everything.

* * *

Hours later, Zoey sat at a park bench thinking. Just thinking. She let her mind wonder. Everything from what she was afraid of losing to what she had already lost. But she had been sitting out in the daily mist since the morning, and she hadn’t heard a word from Max. So she decided to walk home. Zoey must not have realized how long she had been out, because by the time she had reached the apartment, the only light guiding her was the street lamps. Once she made it up the stairs, she paused outside her door. Like she was waiting for an invitation. But before she could walk in, Mo open his door behind her.

”Hi, Mo.”

He pointed at her, “You better try to make things right.”

Zoey nodded, “Don’t worry, I want to.” She turned back to her own door, and twisted the knob slowly. She step into a quiet apartment, where she could hear anything. Not even the music. She looked around for Max, but it didn’t take long for her to find him. There he was sitting on the couch, with his hands held together and body weights forward. He looked up to meet Zoey’s eyes, and then froze. He just sat there with anticipation, waiting for Zoey. “Hi,” her voice barley above a whisper. Max still didn’t move. “I-I am sorry-sorry, Max.” She sat on the opposite side of the couch.

”For what?” His voice was monotone and hollow.

”For shoving you away. For just leaving you with no explanation. I did everything wrong.” Zoey’s quivered. “I shut you out because...I shut...because I was scared you were leaving me. That you were weren’t happy with-with us. That I was this good-for-nothing, that I was hurting you. I was scared of all the needless beatings I was giving myself, my broken self. That you wouldn’t want me, that you didn’t need a mess to fix. And you could leave me. That’s what I’ve been dreading these past weeks, that you would come to your sense and think ‘Oh, I don’t love her any more.’” 

Max reached across the sofa for her hand. “Zoey, I will always love you. And you don’t need to be scared, because like I told you I’m not going anywhere.” She tried to hold back the tears, as did Max, because what he was going to do next might just break him. “But Zoe-Zoey, I don’t know who I am without you. You go to work in the other room all day, and all I can think about is ‘when is Zoey going to be back’. I need to-to take a step back. To clear my thoughts and reevaluate everything.” He looked at her, and he looked at him. “I’m sorry, but just need to focus on myself for a little bit.” 

At this moment, Zoey was trying to nodded and show her approval. But all she could do is cry. “That’s good, Max. You should do that.” 

Max now had full tears of his own on his face. “Now, this doesn’t mean I leaving you. I will never, ever leave you.”

”I understand, It’s okay.”

”Really?” He cried.

”Yes. If we every want to do this... us, then we both have to be ready,” Zoey said.

Max tried to no prevail to dry his eyes, “Mo, offered me to stay at his place for a little bit. And since the world is stuck, that’s the only place I could go.”

”Okay.”

”I’ll go first thing tomorrow,” Max said. Zoey got up to go to bed for the night, even though she couldn’t bear to think of her apartment without Max in it anymore. 

“Max, can you do one more thing before you go?” She asked.

”Of course.”

”Just stay with me tonight.” Max nodded. 

They crawled into bed together, and Zoey cuddled into the warmth of Max’s body. As they dozed off to sleep, all they could do was think of the positive that they had already created together. And they hoped that this solution to there problems would work, because if it didn’t neither of them knew what to do next. But soon later Zoey’s thoughts were muted by a peaceful sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Zoey woke up to the sound of silence. She stared at her celling, feeling well rested but grey. She felt the emptiness besides her, as Max was gone. She got up to what was the feeling of a black void inside her mind. As Zoey walked into the living room, she noticed every reminder of Max was gone. No posters, no photos of his family. He wasn’t making breakfast like normal. It was almost like he was never there to begin with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song I Don’t Love You - By My Chemical Romance


	7. 1-2 Weeks later

It had been a week since Max moved into Mo’s place, and he still wasn’t doing the best. He slept in a lot and barley ate. Yet he was always tired. He didn’t do anything and Mo was getting fed up.

”MAX!,” He jumped up from his bed, “GET UP! And stop mopping around.” He pulled the covers off the bed.

”Hey?! What was that for?” Max groaned. 

“You need to get a life,” He clapped.

”Ugh,” Max rolled out of bed, “You know, I was perfectly happy wallowing in my own sadness.” Mo rolled his eyes.

”Come on, I made you breakfast because I don’t remember the last time I saw you eat.” Mo pointed out the food on the table.

”I’m not hungry.”

”YOU will eat, weather I have to force feed you or not,” Mo crossed his arms and gave Max a death glare. “Sit, now.”

Max did as he was told. On his plate there were some poached eggs, hash browns, toast, cut up oranges, and a full glass of milk. “Wow, just wow. When did you have time to do all of this?”

“Oh, this only took me an hour.”

Max was frazzled, “Really. Well this puts my breakfast to shame.” He took a bite, the food was phenomenal but he still wasn’t hungry. 

“Max,” Mo said in a much more soothing voice, “Please eat, I can’t bare to see you starve yourself over her.”

”Why do you care so much?”

”Well, Zoey is a dear friend of mine, and she cares for you. A lot. Which means that in some whacked up way, that I care for you too.”

Max just sat there in silence. He had never hand anyone say something so sincere to him. Not even his on father. “Um... thanks.”

”So, you sleep any better in your room, rather you just sleeping on that pull out couch?”

Max swallowed his bite, “Yeah, I slept fine. But I have been meaning to ask. How do you have two bedrooms, and Zoey only has one? And I’m pretty sure that you guys have the same amount of space.” He asked.

”Honestly, I don’t know. But I do know one thing. She actually has a larger apartment. She just doesn’t know how to furnish anything.” Mo laughed at Zoey’s inability to do anything with her apartment. “So Max, tell me about yourself. Things I don’t know, if I am going to be sharing this place with you I would like to more than what we learned during are first encounter.”

”Well I grew up in New York, decided around the age of 15 that I didn’t want to become a dentist. So I moved out here for college, while being an intern at SPRQ Point. Then after I graduated went straight work for them, and that’s when I met Zoey. And now five years later, I barely talk to any of my family, I was fired from my only job, and no plan for the for see able future.” Max shrugged, acting like it was no big deal.

Mo looked dazzled, “That’s a lot to take in.”

”Yay.”

”So, what do you want to do next?”

”I already told you, I got no plans.” Max pushed around his food.

”I said what do you want to do, not what are you plans. There’s a big difference.” Mo pointed out.

”I honestly don’t no... I’ve been so connected to other people’s lives lately, and so caught up in what they want, that I don’t know what I want anymore,” Max said blandly.

”Well, I’m going to be here to help you find that spark,” Mo explained, “Now, your life seems very sad and boring. No offense. Who knew”

* * *

Zoey week had been no different than he previous ones with Max. Other than the fact that she didn’t make good breakfast, she watch movies now all by herself, and she had taken apart her microwave at least three times. So her week without Max had differed a little, but mentally she was unchanged.

She kept her mind so busy with work, movies and her family that she had completely forgot about Max. And that was her plan along. The less she could think about him the better. Zoey had been sleeping better, but she still woke up hoping that there would be a fresh plate of food for her to eat in the morning. But there wasn’t. And she honestly didn’t know how long she could go with out eating a normal meal. Because frozen burritos aren’t that good for you.

Zoey had started to take walks with her mother in the park to catch up on life. Maggie had been doing well since Mitch’s passing. She was debating weather or not to sell the house, because it just seemed to big with out Mitch. But with the weather warming up now as they reached the end of May, she wouldn’t mind having a big backyard to host barques with her family.

Today Zoey and Maggie were walking in the nice day, without a cloud in the sky. Maggie was planning on having the family over in a couple of weeks. That would give everyone enough time to stay home so that they wouldn’t risk getting Miles sick.

”I can’t believe that I get to meet Miles,” Zoey said excitedly.

Maggie laughed at her daughters antics as she was now jumping up and down with glee. “He really is a cute kid, and he is going to love his Aunt Zoey, and Uncle Max,” Zoey’s face went still. “I am expecting him to come, with him living with you and all I figured. Also—.” She looked at her daughter who now had a stone-cold expression. “Sweetie, is everything okay?”

”Yeah, no I’m fine.”

”Really? Cause you don’t look fine.” Maggie retorted.

Zoey sighed, “I just don’t know if Max will be able to come.”

”Why not? Did something happen between you to?”

”Kind of... well not ‘kind of’. Yes, something happened...” She didn’t want to finish the sentence.

”What happened. Do you two breakup or something?”

Zoey rolled her eyes, “We weren’t in a relationship Mom, and still aren’t.”

“Then I still don’t see the problem. I am I going to have to nag it out of you?” She joked.

”Max moved out,” Zoey sad quietly. The a rush of feelings came to the for front and saddened her deeply. She tried to hide back her tears.

”Why? I thought you two were doing great.”

”We were, but then we realized that we need some time apart to think for our selves.” Zoey took a deep breath, “So Max moved in next store with Mo, and I haven’t from him since.”

Maggie wrapped her arm around Zoey’s shoulder, “Well you guys will figure everything out soon, you always do.”

”Yeah I really hope so too.”

”Well, David told me that he would like you both at dinner in a couple of weeks. Apparently he wants to talk to you guys about something,” Maggie said.

”Okay.” Zoey was confused on why David would want to see both Max and her, but she was going to argue with him. “I’ll talk to you later mom. Love you.”

”Love you, too.

After there encounter, Zoey went to go pick up food from her favorite Thai place before walking home. On her way up the stairs, she herd Mo’s door open. But it didn’t reveal Mo, only Max.

”Hi,” he said softly.

”Hi, Max. How-how are you doing?” Zoey didn’t know if they should be talking, but she thought why not.

”I’m doing okay I guess. You?”

”I doing fine as well. Where were you going?” She pointed out how he was wearing a mask.

”Oh, neither Mo or me felt like cooking to night so I’m picking up... Thai food,” Max laughed as he noticed Zoey caring a take out bag. She laughed as well.

”Yeah, I had the same idea. But I don’t know how to cook, so... yeah.” A awkward silence fell between them. “I’ll let you go.”

”Okay, bye Zo-,”

”Oh wait- sorry.” She stammered.

“No, go ahead,” Max said being his gentleman self.

”Uh... My family is have a barbecue in a few weeks, and for some reason David wants us both there. So I wanted to know if you wanted to come?” She asked.

”Why not, I do love you family,” He smiled. “When is it?”

”In a couple of weeks. You are going to need to strictly quarantine for a little while, there bringing the baby.” Zoey explained.

Max’s smile got bigger, “That sounds great... I’ll see you later than.” He walked down the stairs with a skip in his step. Even though Zoey couldn’t see his smile through the mask, she could definitely sense it.

* * *

The next week Max and Mo were trying to figure out how to make a good tasting sourdough bread, but so far they were unsuccessful. They had made to starters and three loaves each, and nothing seemed to be coming out perfectly.

”Maybe, we’re doing something wrong,” Max said. His entire body was covered in flour, somehow.

”Maybe. But Maybe we just don’t know how to make bread and we should just give up now,” Mo sighed. He was clearly fed up with all the bread making.

”No, no, no, no. No. We are not giving up. This is not a time for me to be giving up. How about we just look at a facebook page, and ask them what we are doing wrong.”

”How about... No,” He quipped.

”Fine. I will try to make bread. You can return to what ever art project you like doing.” Max stared cleaning up their last failed attempt. “Do you want to put a movie or Tv show on in the background I don’t mind.”

”I don’t really like TV shows... or movies for that matter.”

”What? How?” Max was completely shocked at the new turn of events.

Mo rolled his eyes, “They just are never that interesting. They also fallow to many tropes.”

”Yeah, so.”

”So if things are repeated over and over, they get boring,” He explained.

”Well I have a new goal, I am going to find you a movie that you like,” Max pulled out his binder of DVDs.

”You still use DVDs, how old are you?” He asked rhetorical.

Max filled through all his movies, “You can by the for cheap now on DVD, now what’s your favorite genre?”

* * *

Zoey seemed to have shoved down all of her problems because they all seem to be surfacing now. Every little thing with Max she questioned. She knew she loved him, but her heart wasn’t ready for another heartbreak. What if everything seemed to go wrong. What if Max felt like he should be connected to her, that he focused way too much on her and needed a change. Every little question came popping into her brain.

With her brain scrambled, she called her mom for some clearance. She sniffled a cry as Maggie picked up, “Hey.”

”Hi Zo-, Zoey what’s wrong?” Maggie asked concerned.

”Everything,”

”Care to elaborate.”

Zoey took a big sigh before she started to ramble, “Well I’m afraid that Max is going to figure out that he can live without me. My heart still isn’t in the right space, nor is my brain for that matter. I mean, Dad’s death was like three months ago. I can’t get into a relationship now. And what if it doesn’t work, what if I lose Max forever. I could never live myself then. I just... my brain is spiraling and I can’t seem to calm it down.”

Maggie paused, “Zoey, take a deep breath. First off Max loves you, everyone knows it. I’m pretty sure David and Emily have bet going on to see when you guys get together.”

”Really?”

Her mom nodded, “And I’m assuming that you love him too,” Zoey stayed quiet on the other screen. She slowly nodded admitting something that she had barely admitted to herself. “So the way I see it is, you can either get together down the line whenever you think you are going to be ready. Or, you can get together sooner rather than later, seeing that your heart may never heal. There will probably always be apart of you that misses him... there is always going to be a place in my heart that I can never fix.” Maggie paused to collect herself. “But your father and I never waited to be together, we just knew. But I can’t even start to imagine ‘what if’ we got together later. We probably couldn’t have made a lot of our favorite memories.”

“Yeah, but what if I and Max never work out. I can’t lose him,” Zoey said.

”Zoey, be serious. Max will never leave you, and will never leave him. You guys are inseparable, and you can’t live without each other.”

”Wow. That’s honestly what I expected to hear from you, but still, you saying makes it so much more real.”

”Yeah, It does.” Maggie gave Zoey a soft smile, “Hey Zo, stop asking ‘What if’ if we both know it’s going to happen.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Anytime sweetheart, I love you.” Maggie waved from the other side of the screen.

”Love you too mom.” Her screen turned black. She put her phone down and decided to brew herself so tea. Because Zoey had a lot to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the kind of boring chapter, I needed a filler for what’s coming next


	8. Day of Barbque

Today was the day that got Zoey so excited. She was going to get to see her family for the first time in months, her best friend was coming, and she would be able to meet her baby nephew. She was over the moon. Zoey and Max decided that they should carpool together as they were both going. Max was very excited to see everyone as well, not as crazy as Zoey was being, but still very thrilled.

In the car there all Zoey could talk about is Miles. “I can’t wait to meet him. He has gotten so big in the photos they showed me. I really wish I got to meet him when he was a newborn. He was so small—“

”Zoey, breath,” Max stopped her. “Please pay attention to the road or we may never meet him.” He laughed a little.

”You’re right. So how has time with Mo been?” She asked.

“It’s been good. I learned that Mo didn’t like movies—“

Zoey cut him off, “WHAT! God, I can’t believe I was friends with him and never knew. Oh sorry, go ahead.”

”So... we watch almost everything in my binder of movies until we found a movie that he liked. And you’ll never believe what it is.” He paused. “Rocky Horror.”

”Well that makes sense, considering Mo,” Zoey pointed out.

”So how has work been?”

”Normal... well pandemic normal,” She joked

“Good.” A silence fell in the car. Max didn’t know what to talk about, so he decided to ask Zoey something that he didn’t understand. “Hey, do you know why David wants to talk with us?”

”Uh, no. Not really. I am assuming what he could want to talk to us about, but-but I honestly don’t think that he would cross that line.” She stammered out.

“What do you mean?”

“Well... since David technically is ‘the man of the house’—“ she lifted her hands off the steering wheel to quote the misogynists saying.

Max yelled at her, “Zoey, wheel! You're going to be the death of me.”

”Sorry.” She said sheepishly.

Max took in a few deep breaths to slow his speeding heart rate, “Continue.”

”As I was saying, David may...” She paused a spoke quietly, “wanttoaskusifwe’redating?”

”Zo, I can understand you speaking fast but can you speak louder?”

”He might want to ask... if we're dating.” She pointed out.

”Oh...” he thought for a second. “Why would he care?”

”I just said it was an assumption, not saying that he would do that. David might bug me later on the subject... but yay.” Zoey pulled the car up to Maggie’s place. “You ready?”

”Yep, let's go.”

They walked up to the front of the door, before knocking Zoey said, “And Max, sorry for almost getting in a car wreck.”

He laughed, “It’s okay.” Zoey knocked on the door, not even a second later Maggie opened the door.

”Hello, hello, hello.” Her smile was big and infectious.

”Hey Mom,” Zoey walked in and hugged her.

”Hey Maggie, how are you?” Max asked, like a gentleman.

”I’m doing fine, considering...” Maggie stayed silent, “Well... there already here if you want to see Miles, they’re in the backyard.” And Zoey went off running to see the baby. Everyone was outside already, Emily had the baby in her arms under the umbrella attached to the table. While David was standing next to the grill.

”Hello everybody.” Zoey said panting.

“Hey Zo,” David waved from the grill.

“Hey Zoey,” Emily stood up to greet her, “This is Miles.”

”Oh my gosh, he is so precious,” She squealed quietly, trying not to wake the baby.

”Do you want to hold him?” She asked, knowing the answer.

”Yes, yes, yes!” Zoey jumped up and down.

Emily slowly handed her Miles, “Remember to support his head a little. He’s a couple of months old so he can support his neck a little more, but we still got to help him out” 

Zoey gently took Miles in her arms. He was still so small compared to her. “Hi, Mi-mi.” Emily laughed at how Zoey already nicknamed her son. Emily knew that Miles was in good hands went to go next to her husband at the grill. “I’m your Aunt Zoey, It’s so nice to meet you.” She gently bounced the baby in her arms. “I am going to be your favorite aunt. Not your Aunt Jenna, me. You are going to be spoiled rotten.” Her voice was in a funny baby voice to amuse Miles.

And of course, at that very moment, Max decided to walk outside. He noticed Zoey with the baby and her crazy voice. He laughed at her, “Hey there, Aunt Zo.” 

She looked for amount, for then her eyes went straight back to the baby, “Max, meet Miles.”

”Hey there little dude,” He took the baby’s small hand and shook softly, “I hope your Aunt isn’t scaring you. I know she can be a lot to look at with her red hair.” He joked.

”If I weren’t holding the baby, I would smack you on the back of your head.” He looked at Zoey, who was looking at Miles with so much love. She just sighed, she was so happy at this moment. “Oh I should have asked do you want to hold the baby?”

”Of course,” Max exclaimed. Zoey carefully put the baby in Max’s arms repeating everything Emily had tolled her to do with Miles the first time, “Thank you Zoey, but you might have forgotten I’m already an Uncle. I’ve met my sibling's parents before.”

”True, I just want you to make sure you're being careful. He’s so delicate.”

”Yeah, he’s also adorable,” Max said.

“Yay, he really is.”

Max and Zoey stayed huddled discussing everything to do about Miles. They would swap who was holding him, and sooner than later he fell asleep in their arms. While David and Emily looked over from the food cooking, they were enjoying the nice break and taking in the nice weather. They had both decided a long time ago what they were going to discuss with Zoey and Max.

”Should you go talk to them now hon?” Emily asked.

David nodded, “Yay, you got the food?”

”Yep, go ahead tell them.”

David walked over to the pair holding the baby, “Hey guys.”

They both looked up. “Hey Dav, he fell asleep a little while ago,” Zoey said.

”That’s good, If you ever want me or Emily to take him inside just ask.”

”No way, this kid is too great.” Max explained.

David laughed. “So I was hoping I could talk to you guys about something... kind of important.”

Zoey’s and Max’s faces turned serious, not knowing what to expect.

”I just want you to know that you can decline what I’m going to tell, it’s just a big deal. I don—“ David rambled. Max now knew another connection to how David and Zoey were similar.

“David, cut to the chase,” Zoey tolled him.

”Okay. So when Miles was born, I and Emily started talking about who we wanted to be his godparents. And even though Emily has family on her side we both knew who it had to be. We would like to ask you if you guys would be Miles’s godparents?” David asked.

”Really?” Zoey looked stunned. David nodded seriously. “Wow.”

”And as I said, can totally appose to this. But if you do agree then that would mean that if anything happened to me and Emily, that Miles would be left in your custody.” The pair stayed silent, sometimes they would look at each other, not knowing what to say “Guys... so.”

”I mean David, wow.” Those were all the words Zoey could manage to speak at the moment. “I know what my answer is.”

”What?” David asked.

”Yes, of course. How could I say no.”

”Max?” Up till this point, Max hadn’t moved or said a word. He was just comprehending what he was told.

He looked up from his daze, “Uhh sorry... It's just... wow.” He looked at David, “You really want me to be his godfather?”

”Who else. You’ve been apart of our family for so long, who better than you to be there for my son,” he pointed out. “And I figured with you and Zoey’s relationship—.” He stopped himself at they were about to jump in, “It may not be a ‘romantic’ relationship. But it’s a loving one, and that’s all Emily and I want for Miles.”

Max thought to himself for a second before giving his answer, “I would love to be Miles’s godfather.”

David took a sigh of relief, “That’s great, thank you, guys. So much.” He got up to hug them both. “You have to no idea what this means to us.”

”Do we need to sign anything?” Zoey asked.

”Yeah, nothing major. Just you both stating that you understand the responsibilities and all that fun legal stuff. We can get it in the mail in a couple of weeks,” He responded. David walked away back to his wife, probably to tell her about their answers.

Zoey and Max looked at each other, and then looked at the peaceful baby sleeping in their arms. “Wow. Just like that were godparents,” Zoey said.

* * *

After eating all of the barbecue the could eat, and talking about he future state of the country enough, everyone started to clean up and make the way home. Since Max was now terrified to get in a car with Zoey, he drove them home. During this ride home, Zoey let her mind wander. All she thought about was her mother’s advice from the following week, what being godparents would mean to them both log term, how they were doing to move forward with their current situation. These thoughts scrambled her brain, so much so that she didn’t even notice them pulling up to the apartment building.

As they started to ascend the stairs upwards Max said, “I really did have a good time today.”

”I did to,” Zoey smiled, “I still can’t believe that were godparents.”

He huffed, “Yay, it’s crazy. Right?”

”Yay, totally crazy...” She thought for a moment, “Max, can we talk for a second?”

”Sure...” Max had know Idea were this could be going, but he fallowed Zoey into her apartment. Zoey sat down one the couch, and he mirrored her. “So, what do want to talk about?”

”Just... us—well everything.”

”That’s not very specific,” He tried to lighten the mood.

”Um... well. A week ago, I was talking with my mom and she gave me some very good advice. She said that I shouldn’t think about ‘What if we breakup?’ or ‘What if?’ and ‘what about that?’. I just stopped think about all of that. And then this all happened today with Miles, and now we are going to be legally bonded to take care of a child if anything happens to David and Emily.” She paused, and tried to slow down, “Around a month ago, I realized something. And I didn’t admit it to myself for a very long time, afraid of what could happen. And I wont say anything, because if I admit it then I wont every be able to take it back.”

Even in Zoey’s messy speech, Max knew exactly what she was talking about. “Zoey, you don’t have to do any of this. Not until your ready.”

”But Max, that the thing. I might never be ready, there will always be apart of me that will miss my Dad. And I’ll have to live with that. But there’s one thing I can’t live with out...” She trailed off.

”What’s that?” Max heard a slow music building, it was calm and peaceful. He looked at Zoey right before she started singing.

_I can't write one song that's not about you_

  
_Can't drink without thinkin' about you_

  
_Is it too late to tell you that_

  
_Everything means nothing if I can't have you?_

_I'm in Toronto and I got this view_

  
_But I might as well be in a hotel room, yeah_

  
_It doesn't matter 'cause I'm so consumed_

  
_Spending all my nights reading texts from you_

“Zoey,” Max tried to get her attention, it didn’t seem to work.

_Oh, I'm good at keepin' my distance_

  
_I know that you're the feelin' I'm missing_

  
_You know that I hate to admit it_

  
_But everything means nothin' if I can't have you  
  
_

_I can't write one song that's not about you_

  
_Can't drink without thinkin' about you_

  
_Is it too late to tell you that_

  
_Everything means nothing if I can't have you?_

  
_I can't write one song that's not about you_

  
_Can't drink without thinkin' about you_

  
_Is it too late to tell you that_

  
_Everything means nothing if I can't have you?_

Max just smiled and rolled his eyes. Zoey looked confused about why Max looked so happy. “What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing. Keep going.”

Zoey returned to her more serious self for a moment. “I can’t live without you, Max. Your way to important for me to lose. Remember around a month ago when just wasn’t sleeping?” Max nodded. “I just kept have these nightmares were you just kept leaving me, and you said you didn’t love me.”

”Zo, hope you know that’s not true,” Max said.

She was starting to get emotional, “Yeah I know, but it just felt so real. It taught me that I don’t want to leave you Max. Your my forever, I want to be by your side through thick and thin.”

”I want that too, you know.” He took her hand, “Your my forever.”

They moved closer together, to lean on each other. Just sitting in the beauty of the silence. “Max, I want you to know—.” She was cut off again by the sounds of music filling his ears. 

_Loving is easy_

  
_You had me messed up_

  
_It used to be so hard to see_

  
_Yeah, loving is easy_

  
_When everything's perfect_

  
_Please don't change a single little thing for me_

  
_Listen boy_

All Max could do while Zoey sang to him the simple tune, was smile like an idiot.

_When you can't even hide it_

  
_And it didn't take forever to find it_

  
_I was all on my own_

  
_Almost glad to be alone_

  
_Until love came in on time, on time_

_So loving is easy_

  
_You had me messed up_

  
_It used to be so hard to see_

  
_Yeah, loving is easy_

  
_When everything's perfect_

  
_Please don't change a single little thing for me_

_Ooh, oh, woah_

  
_Ahh, oh_

  
_Ooh, oh, woah_

  
_Ahh_

“I love you Max,” Zoey said. It felt like a weight lift off her chest. 

Max smile, “I love you too, Zoey. Some much.” She leaned into kiss him, and as her lips touched his nothing felt better. It was romantic, and sweet. Nothing could ruin this moment. They slowly pulled away from each other. “I should probably tell you something. You just sang to me twice.” Max tolled her.

”What? What did I sing when?” She was frazzled.

”I’ll tell you about it later. There something else I want to do.” He leaned back into Zoey, never wanting to come up for air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song Everything Means Nothing if I can’t Have You - Shawn Mendez (Yes, I know that Max sang this for Zoey. I thought it would be funny.) Also imagine this song much slower.  
> Other song Loving is Easy - Rex Orange County (I had to change some lyrics for ratings issues)


End file.
